The Road Trip
by theshepherdmethod
Summary: Meredith, Derek and Zola are going to finally meet the whole Shepherd clan. When they miss their plane, they take are forced to drive instead. From encounters with wild animals to sketchy motels, they discover what it really means to be a family.


_**A/N: **__Hello, everyone! This is my first long term story after my own personal hiatus. This story is called __**The Road Trip**__, and is centered around Meredith and Derek and Zola, in about two months after present time. In a quick summary, they plan to go finally meet Derek's entire family, but in the process, everything goes awry, and because of a missed plane, they decide to go for a road trip, all the way from Seattle to Connecticut. _

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or it's characters, no copyright infringement intended. I'm simply using these characters for fun. ;)_

Meredith leaned farther back and crossed her arms as she waited, sliding down against the rubbery material of the chair with a sigh. She cast her gaze across the busy airport, and watched as the rising sun cast lazy shadows in lines across the shiny, reflective floor. The smell of fresh cinnamon rolls wafted and curled up in her nose, and mixed with the sterile, chilly air of the airport. She shivered and squinted against the morning light.

Meredith rubbed at her bleary, tired eyes, which still felt heavy and dusted with sleep. She was exhausted. Their original plan had been to arrive at the airport at six, to be ready to board their flight at 7:10, which called for her to wake up at five. Much to her dismay, Zola had decided she wasn't feeling very tired last night, and instead woke Meredith up with a screaming wail every hour overnight. Derek had slept soundly in his bed, of course.

_"She really woke up every hour? I didn't hear a thing!"_

_ "I hate you."_

_ "You love me. It's probably because I've lived with your snoring for years now- I'm used to big noises erupting from tiny people." _

Derek and Zola were off on an "adventure" in the airport, as he had called it, on a mad search for some form of breakfast. The thought of breakfast made her stomach curl, and she groaned. In the busy, hurried morning, she had forgotten to grab coffee, and let alone eat anything, too. Derek had held onto Zola and bounced her in his grip, kissing her forehead as he'd looked at Meredith and asked permission to take her on a rabid search for a Starbucks: Which, of course, she had agreed to, because without caffeine she wasn't sure she'd make it all the way to Connecticut.

Connecticut. To Derek's Mother. To Derek's Family. She was going to _Connecticut, _to meet Derek's _family. _Help. Someone, help. How had this even happened, anyway?

* * *

><p><em>"Connecticut? Next month?" She rolled her tongue across her teeth and then clamped down on it, hopefully suppressing a scream. She ran her fingers along the arms of the chair she sat on and gripped them until her knuckles were white. <em>

_ "Yes," He repeated. Derek's eyes flickered across her, searching hers for any sign of a reply. _

_ "You want me to go to Connecticut." She said slowly, as if she couldn't absorb it._

"_Yes."_

"_With you."_

"_Yes."_

"_To meet your family."_

_ He blinked, "Meredith. Are you okay? Mom has been nagging me for two years now, and we have Zola, and…" He paused, squinting at her with confusion. "Meredith." _

_She shook her head simply to try and clear it, but thoughts whirred around in a messy blur. The colors of the room were starting to melt into one another. She swallowed. "You want me to go to meet your family? Your **entire** family?" _

_ Sighing, he bit his lip and nodded slowly. "They haven't stopped nagging me since I got shot. And now with Zola, I'm starting to receive multiple calls a day. Mom has even threatened to bring the whole family out **here, **which is…" He shook his head and paused, sighing again. He placed his warm palm on his knee, looking into her eyes with sympathy. He prodded for a response gently, "Meredith?" _

_ She looked at the table, and her eyes followed the lines of wood as her brain spun with thoughts. Derek's family wanted to meet her. She did enjoy Carolyn: When she had ventured to Seattle to help take care of Derek after he was shot, they were able to talk a lot, and she surprised Meredith with how wonderful she was. Meredith had also met Amelia, of course, and Nancy- which, to be honest, was not a good experience in itself. She hadn't met Kathleen or Natalie yet, though, or any of her nieces, and the idea was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. _

_ Think, Meredith, think. _

_ A word she couldn't keep control of fell out of the space between her lips: "Okay." Derek widened his eyes, so she repeated, "Okay."_

* * *

><p>Help. Someone, anyone… <em>help<em>.

She shifted in the uncomfortable chair as she watched more people file into the airport. She hadn't been on a plane since… Seattle? Was it when she first came to Seattle? She drummed her fingers hard on the arm of the chair and shifted in her chair again. Time really flew.

Scanning her eyes across their small pile of luggage, she couldn't help but to smile. Amongst her and Derek's gray and black carry-on bags, there was a pink and purple diaper bag slumped against the empty chair next to her. It was Zola's, and a small lion stuffed animal sat on top of it. When they had entered the airport, they checked three things- two of them Zola's. One big suitcase with some of their clothes, Zola's porta-crib, and Zola's other duffel bag, filled to the brim with various baby things. To save money, Meredith had convinced Derek to shove as many things as they could in their free carry-on bags, too.

"Look who it is!" The recognizable warm voice came from her right, and she twisted around to smile in Derek's direction. He clutched Zola in one hand and a paper bag with the other one, bouncing her lightly as he walked in her direction. "Look, there's mommy! There she is!" He said to her, his voice high and sweet. Zola stretched out her chubby little baby arms and grabbed the air with her hands, giggling. Meredith reached for her and took her from Derek, pulling her to her close, smiling. "After circling the airport three times, we successfully found Starbucks." He reached down and tickled her fingers along her rib cage, and she squealed, kicking her feet. "I couldn't have done it without my little adventurer here."

"I'll bet," Meredith pressed her lips against Zola's small cheek. She yawned as Derek settled into the chair next to her. The bag crinkled noisily in his hand as he began to open it and pull out different pastries. He handed her an apple Danish and she smiled gratefully, "My favorite."

"Zo picked it out for you," Derek reasoned, smiling. She clapped. Meredith looked at her, kissing her again, holding her little bundle of joy close to her chest. As she held Zola on her knee and ate with her free hand, Derek began to eat his own food. "Did you ever fall asleep?"

"Nah, I figured guarding the bags full of diapers was more important," She said, and Derek nodded, chuckling. She bit into her pastry, and the taste of apple spewed into her mouth. She licked the sweet sugar from her lips and chewed hastily, hungry. Her rumbling stomach finally tamed.

Derek finished his off and checked his watch with a small sigh. He ran his hand through his disheveled hair and glanced at her with a small smile, "Hungry?"

"Yes. More along the lines of starving, but whatever," She mumbled, crumbs dotting the sides of her mouth. "Mmm, thanks."

"I would have gotten coffee, but I had my hands full with that little peanut," He gestured to Zola. "I figured maybe we could go for a walk in here or something and pick it up together," Meredith nodded, her mouth full, and Derek smiled, "Okay." As she finished off her food, she swiped the back of her hand across her lips. Derek leaned over to pry apart Zola's little foldable stroller, and as it squeaked, Zola clapped her hands.

"She always has so much energy," Meredith mused, rubbing Zola's little back. "I, on the other hand, feel like I am about to collapse any second. Zola, sweetie, why can't you sleep at night, instead of the day?" She kissed the back of her head with a sigh, "It would make mommy's life so much easier."

Derek twisted a few gears on the stroller as a grin spread across his face, "What's funny is that I didn't hear a thing."

Meredith narrowed her eyes, "That's not funny."

Derek let out a groan as he stood back up, extending his arms above his head and stretching his muscles. "Sorry. You should wake me up, then! I don't mind." He smirked at her, "I've gone without sleep plenty of times before. You would know."

Meredith rolled her eyes and carefully stood up, keeping Zola balanced in her hands. "Sorry, you just look so **cute **in your sleep." Derek shrugged. Meredith carefully placed Zola in the black stroller, trying to take hold of her flailing arms and legs as she buckled her in. "Zola, Daddy is dangerously handsome. Daddy's also inappropriate."

This made a laugh fall from Derek's lips as he shook his head, looking into her eyes. "Meredith," He said in fake protest. He bent to sling the diaper bag over his shoulder, and Meredith held back a chuckle. They had two diaper bags- a black one for Derek, and a pink one for her (a baby gift from Arizona Robbins). Derek, who insisted they pack lightly, was smart enough to grab the pink one. And now, as he stood with his Bowdoin sweatshirt and his ruffled, messy hair- not to mention his prominent stubble- the pink diaper bag was icing on the cake.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Mom," Meredith replied, smirking as she took the stroller into her hands. Derek grabbed the rest of the carry on bags, and they walked away from the rows of uncomfortable chairs at their waiting area. Meredith could see as Zola kicked her feet happily, wearing new booties Derek had brought home as a surprise for her one day. They had ferryboats on them.

* * *

><p><em>"Derek! Where did you get those?" Meredith exclaimed, ridden with awe. Derek was holding baby booties with ferryboats on them.<em>

_ His smile was warm and triumphant, and his eyes twinkled with pride. "Downtown. I have been looking for them since we chose to adopt her. Finally." Zola was sitting in her highchair, giggling. "Like them, Zo? They're special, just for you! Just for our special girl!"_

* * *

><p>"Shut up," He said playfully, and they walked.<p>

The airport was obviously bustling by the time 7:00 came around. People from all different areas were hurrying in, hurrying out. Meredith wondered where they were going. Were they excited? Anxious? Were they going for pleasure, or was it inevitable? As Meredith and Derek strolled through the crowds, hurried women and men in business suits shoved past them, sending the diaper bag swinging.

They passed a small airport McDonald's and Meredith paused for a moment, grabbing Derek's arm to stop his walking. There was a family at the counter; a middle aged woman with about six young kids, all who were screaming over each other, with her screaming back. Meredith could make out the words 'hamburger' and 'mountain dew', but not much else. She looked at Derek, amazed. "That's not going to be us, right? Please tell me that won't be us." Derek looked back at her, amused, and simply shook his head.

"I certainly hope not."

They continued through the airport, and strangely, every time Meredith saw a family, she put her own family in their shoes. Two kids tugging at each other's hair. A mom balancing two newborns in her hands, and a phone in the crook of her neck, as they wailed at each other. An angry teenager clad in black storming away from his mother. She bit her lip and glanced at Zola. Too many possibilities.

"You know what we need to do?" She said, cutting of the peaceful sound of the beat of their footsteps against the hard floors. Derek looked at her briefly, his eyes to the brim with curiosity. "We need to do something. Just the three of us."

His brows furrowed together in confusion, "Isn't that what we're doing right now?" He let out a nervous, low laugh.

"Well, sure. But what I mean is…." Meredith sighed, trying to get her words arranged in the right order in her brain. "Something… _just us." _

Derek couldn't stop the frown that his mouth had began to curl into. "Is this about my family?" The words sounded a little dented with hurt, and Meredith cringed. That was not her intention. She didn't mean to insult his family. Oh, crap.

"No!" She struggled to backpedal, biting her lip. "I… No. That's not what I mean. What I mean is…. A family thing. _Our _family thing. For _our _family." She pursed her lips, worried that she wasn't making any sense. It sure sounded like it. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

It was quiet for a moment as they walked- and not the comfortable quiet, where things were peaceful and their footsteps were in rhythm and the air was still. It was a weird silence, an unnatural silence. Meredith bit her lip. "I get it," He said slowly, not mad or upset, just a little confused. Suddenly, she felt like she had insulted his family, that she had insulted this trip.

"You do?" He nodded slowly, but she wasn't convinced. She struggled to force out what she was really meaning to say. "I think us three need to do something special. Well, this is special, of course, but… Like a tradition… except, maybe not like a tradition, like…" She trailed off, losing her train of thought, and sighed in raw defeat. "I just… Never mind." She looked away, off to the ceiling, away from him. Zola cooed at nothing in particular.

Derek paused, and when he spoke, it was lighthearted, "Meredith, take a deep breath. I know exactly what you are trying to say." She felt his warm, reassuring hand on her waist. "And I think it's sweet." Meredith nodded, but didn't say anything. She felt like she had said something embarrassingly wrong. "Meredith," He said softly. He squeezed her waist gently, willing her to talk.

"I thought I said something wrong. It's not that I don't think this is special- spending time with your family- because it is. I just… at one point…"

He finished for her, "I know."

By the time they got to Starbucks there was surprisingly no line, and Meredith thanked the heavens because she was certain she would fall on the floor and pass out if she didn't get any coffee in her system. Derek ordered his first, requesting a large house roast, as always. The woman behind the counter was chewing her gum in an obnoxious, cartoon way, and as Derek talked, her chewing slowed. Her eyes, surrounded by a thick line of eyeliner, were mesmerized on him. Or, his lips, to be exact. Meredith tensed. Oh, no. Not now. She was emotional enough as it is.

"Will that be all, sir?" She said, her voice soft and creamy, slurring her words together slowly and batting her eyelashes. Meredith balled her hands into fists, and carefully, shoved Derek aside. She gave Miss Bubblegum a fake smile that stretched across her lips.

Meredith interjected before Derek could speak, and she answered for herself. "Actually, I'd like a tall caramel macchiato. Thanks." She said through gritted teeth. Bubblegum's gaze was still locked on Derek, though, and she was fluttering her mascara filled eyelashes a little too much for Meredith's taste, so she snapped, "Over here!" Bubblegum- or, her nametag read 'Katie'- looked lazily back at Meredith.

"Uh huh," She mumbled, unenthusiastic as she tap something into the cash register. "$7.42 is your total," She said, and lifted her gaze back at Derek. She smiled. Flirtatiously. It was definitely a flirty smile. Meredith tapped her food impatiently.

"Hey," She said again, her tone dripping with annoyance as she waved a twenty dollar bill in Katie's face. "I'm the one with the money."

"Right," Katie said, her eyes locked on Derek. She reached her hand out blindly. Meredith crossed her arms impatiently, and Zola began to whimper. Derek bent down to hand her the little lion toy, but Meredith kept her eyes on the little barista. Katie glanced at the baby as she handed Meredith her change.

"That's my baby. Isn't she cute?" Meredith cooed, about as fake as she possibly could. She kept her tone high pitched with false enthusiasm, "She's usually not fussy, you know." Katie nodded, looking uninterested, and she reached over to tell the other baristas their order. Meredith's tone fell flat and threatening as she said, "And that's my husband."

Derek noticed her tone and stood up, taking Meredith's shoulders in his hands and steering her away. "Okay, then. We're just going to go… down there…now…" He murmured, passively trying to send the message that she needed to walk away. "Thanks." Katie smiled back at him as she pushed her tip jar forward slowly, and Meredith felt like growling.

Meredith whipped her head around to face her. "I'd sure like to give you a few tips!" She snapped.

Meredith's outburst caused them quite the delay on their drinks, and by the time they had gotten their drinks and were heading back towards their gate, Derek was still trying to cool Meredith down, and Zola was still crying. They tried to feed her, they bounced her, rocked her, sang to her… but all of this to no avail. She continued to flail her little fists, upset, as fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Meredith assumed it was a diaper issue, and when she got up to check, she was correct.

Derek checked his watch warily, "The plane leaves really soon, Meredith."

"We don't really have a choice," Meredith hissed back, a little sharper than she had meant. Over the loudspeaker, a deep male voice announced that their plane to Connecticut would be boarding in three minutes. Meredith bit her lip, frantic, as Zola screamed. "Can it wait?"

"Changing a baby on a plane is a bad idea," Was Derek's response, and he finished the sentence sharply, sensing the stress in her voice. "Just go do it now. I remember where our gate is."

Meredith's voice was dripping with uneasiness, but Derek had already began to gently remove Zola from the stroller. She tugged at his sweatshirt, wailing. "Are you sure?" Meredith was rummaging through the diaper bag for wipes as she spoke. "We don't have time to run around this airport and look. It's too big." She glanced around. "I haven't been here enough to remember where the gate is, and if we're too late they'll leave without~"

Derek cut her off, handing Zola right to her, "Just go! I know where the gate is! It's close enough!" And that was that.

She rushed into the bathroom, balancing Zola in one arm and clinging to the box of wipes and a spare diaper, and wondering why she just didn't bring the whole dumb diaper bag with her in the first place. Stupid, Meredith, stupid.

As she worked to change Zola's diaper, her hands shook as announcements rattled the speakers up above. They were boarding. The plane was boarding, and she was still securing the flaps of Zola's diaper messily. Zola stopped crying, and that gave Meredith a fresh exhale of relief: But it wasn't over yet. Derek had said their gate was close, but Meredith remembered how long the walk was…

She rushed out, holding Zola as carefully as she could, and Derek looked extremely stressed. "Done! Done, we're done!" She didn't bother to put Zola back into the stroller, as they started moving right away. She watched as the diaper bag swung at Derek's waist, occasionally hitting her too. They were still getting the hold of this whole thing.

Before she knew it, she found them running. Their feet were slapping against the slippery floor, and their bags and the stroller that Derek had were all messily hitting and getting tangled and stuck. And she could only go so fast while holding little Zola, but they were going as fast as they could. The speakers blared, but there was so much static that Meredith couldn't even tell what they were saying. She gritted her teeth, because she could tell, Derek _didn't _remember. He looked confused, and she swore they began to run in circles.

The walls were a blur as they ran. The colors of the walls meshed into people which meshed into the chairs which blurred into signs. Everything was a blur. She didn't care if she bumped shoulders with people. By the expression on Derek's face, she could easily tell they were going to be late; she just prayed that they wouldn't be **too** late.

But Meredith didn't get her wish.

By the time they arrived at their gate, everybody was gone.

The door was shut.

_Crap. _

She cursed loudly when they arrived, both of them out of breath, and Derek leaned over with his hands on his thighs, panting. She could hear him swear multiple times under his breath, but by the time he stood back up and brushed himself off, he didn't even look that upset. And they didn't say anything to each other as they approached the desk. Meredith took too long, and Derek didn't know where he was going. They were both at fault, really.

Zola simply giggled with oblivious happiness.

There was an older woman at the desk, hunched over at the screen, dragging her hands through her wiry gray hair. She was expressionless, but the wrinkles on her face suggested she was a very animated person. She looked warn out. Meredith chewed on the inside of her cheek as Derek tried to talk to her. "Did the plane already leave?"

The woman drew her eyes up to look at them and looked severely less-than-impressed. She sighed. "What does it look like, honey."

Derek sighed in frustration and plopped his bags on the ground. He frowned as he spoke, "When's your next flight out? Anywhere in Connecticut?" Meredith bounced Zola gently, silently praying that it would be tonight, at least. Otherwise, what would his sisters think of her? Meredith, the girl who just can't keep up. Meredith, the girl who is always tardy. Meredith, the girl who was so bad at changing diapers that they missed their flight. She could feel her cheek's raw skin start to bleed, and stopped chewing it.

The grumpy, worn old woman sighed, her tone clearly full of exaggeration, and she clicked a few things on the computer. Meredith looked at little Zola, who looked completely content. Derek just continued to frown. "From this airport? Three days." Derek cursed again, and Meredith felt like slamming her head against the wall. Zola let out a happy chirp.

"Ask about other airports," Meredith whispered into Derek's ear, provoking him to do so. "Maybe they have others around here flying out sooner." But, instead of listening to her and taking her advice, Derek did the exact opposite. He smiled. _Smiled _at the angry looking old woman, nodded with thanks, and walked away. It took a second for Meredith to tell her own feet to move in all the confusion.

"Derek!" She snapped, following him as he walked across the area. "What are you doing?" He didn't respond. "Are we going home or something?" No response. "Derek Christopher Shepherd, I swear if you have some insane idea about sneaking onto a plane or something, I'll~"

Derek interrupted her, his voice nearly monotone and simple, "No, we're not going home."

Meredith was beginning to get frustrated. She shifted Zola into her other arm, who was happily tugging at her hair, and she stood straight across from him stiffly. "Derek, _what _are we doing, then?" She remembered, she'd seen cartoons where the characters have gray smoke puffing up from their ears. Their eyes had turn a shade of red and they make the sound of an exploding teakettle. If she was a cartoon, she was pretty sure that that was how her frustration would have caused her to react. She tapped her foot. "Derek!"

As if in a trance, a smile began to twitch at Derek's lips. His eyes fell to hers, and before she knew it, he was full out grinning. She stared at him in bewilderment. He tried to keep his voice level, but excitement made it teeter slowly, as it climbed octaves. "We're going to drive."

Derek's mom lived in _Connecticut. _Connecticut. As in, across the United States, on the Atlantic Ocean. In the car.

Zola squealed.

"You've got to be kidding me," Meredith said. Her voice was flat in disbelief. Completely flat. Although on the inside, she was bursting with emotional fireworks. She was already nervous enough as it is, and this was… too much.

"I'm not." His smile grew bigger. "You just said you wanted to do something special for the three of is. And I like to drive. We could see things, Meredith! Ma wouldn't mind, I could just~"

"You're crazy!" Meredith exclaimed, confused. Her voice was full of bewilderment, and she could tell her eyes were opened so wide and dumbfounded that he could sense it. He put his hands on her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes. Searching them. He had a way of doing that. She blinked. Stupid brain man was messing with hers. "Zola's just a baby!"

"I know," He said, and he paused. His smile was infectious. "Meredith, aren't you listening to me? This is a great opportunity! It would be just us! As a family." He stood there, holding onto her shoulders, looking into her eyes, doing that stupid thing where he cocked his head to the side ever so slightly and raised his eyebrows in a way to say, 'Come on, don't you love me? How could you ever say no to this?'

And she couldn't say no. That was the problem.

She bit her lip. Zola was reaching towards her with her chunky little arms, squealing and kicking her legs happily. And he took her in his arms, with little protest from Meredith, and held his baby's face up to his. Both of them looked at her. Like little freaking puppies. If she said no, she would be kicking her own two little puppies. She groaned, "I actually hate you!"

Derek's smile grew bigger, and much to her dismay, he said what she was afraid he'd say. "Please, Meredith?"

There it was. Her kryptonite. That had sealed it. She couldn't say no. Physically, couldn't.

And before she knew it, they were headed across the USA, with Zola chirping in delight in the back seat. It was going to be a long trip.

_**A/N: **Okay! So, that's that! What do you think? In the next days to come, there will be chaos because of this one road trip: Screaming babies, sketchy motels, detours, traffic induced road rage… the list goes on Reviews are appreciated, and I hope you like it! If you decide to stay with me during this bumpy ride… I hope you enjoy! _


End file.
